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The Alamo! March 6, 1836
The Alamo! March 6, 1836 is a turn based strategy simulation game developed by Jeff Lapkoff and Credible Simulations and released in 2010. The game is a sequel to Jeff Lapkoff's previous title, Defend The Alamo. Gameplay UI The Alamo! March 6, 1836 focuses on the final battle only. Therefore, recreating the siege historically is very difficult. The game's UI features a game board where the game is played. It is accurate in shape and scale, but suffers in that of its appearance. The scale also differs(5 yards per space inside the compound and 15 yards per space outside.) The UI has a panel that has commands that allow the player to issue commands to either the garrison or the attacking army. Some options are force specific, but most of them can be used by both sides. There is also a bar atop the UI that resembles that of Adobe products, except it contains only game related options. There is also a Standing Orders feature that allows the player to have certain orders executed automatically. The player can also pull up a roster, (aka "order of battle"), that gives details about certain units to the player. Options Menu Upon starting a new game, the player is granted with a game options menu that allows for customization of their battles although the game's "historical" setup is displayed by default. There are options for both sides as well as a play-by-email feature. A full list of options is displayed below. Options Texan Specific Options Mexican Specific Options In order to start playing, the player must click the start button. Setup Phase (Texan Only) (Before I go any further, I want to say that this portion of the Gameplay section will only describe gameplay with the "historical" setup enabled.) Upon starting the game, the player sees a number of tiles of different appearances(also called "units") arranged in a sequence that is the same in every game. They will then be greeted by Travis's famous quote, "God and Texas! Victory or Death!!" Afterward, the person playing as the Texans is able to move the units to any location in the Alamo within a border. The game has a built-in arrangement of the units, however the player is able to put them wherever they please. Battle Phase (Main Gameplay) After the Texan player clicks End Turn, the battle begins. Texan Strategy The Texans' goal is to break all of the Mexican forces and have some defenders left. They do this by shooting or attacking the Mexican Units. They have Artillery for support and a fort. Mexican Strategy The Mexicans' goal is to overrun the Alamo's walls and kill all of the Texans. They spawn in 5 columns that attack the fort from all sides. Each column has its own morale level. Once a column's morale falls past a certain point, it moves backwards 1 space per turn until it reaches its base distance. At this point, two things will happen: either the column reforms and rejoins the battle, or the column breaks and never returns to the field. The distance a Mexican unit covers in a turn depends on the status of that unit. Unit Types There are three different types of units: Infantry, Artillery, and Detachments. Infantry Both sides have infantry units. These units make up most of the Texan garrison and the entirety of the Mexican army. The number of men in an infantry unit are vary depending on which side you play. The Texan infantry units have 6 men in each, except for Bowie and his host unit. Infantry units carry two different weapons: longer ranged rifles and shorter ranged muskets, (The percentage of rifle vs musket varies depending on the army.) Both weapons take a minimum of 2 turns to reload. Artillery (Texan Only) The Texans have 15 cannons at their disposal, each manned by 3 men. They come in 6 varieties each having a damage output proportional to its type, (the 18-pounder having the highest and the 2-pounder having the smallest.) The cannons have a reload times that vary with type, (from 3 turns to 5 turns.) Though the artillery are powerful, they are certainly not invincible. They can be disrupted like Infantry. If they are disrupted a second time, they are destroyed and their crews are killed. They can also be abandoned and re-manned. Detachments (Mexican Only) The Mexican Army don't have artillery, but, then again, they don't need any. They attack from all sides of the fort at once and must get over the walls to gain the advantage. Not all attempts to breach the walls are successful. Any units that succeed will place a small part of itself on top of the walls. These are the detachments. They have a maximum of 6 men each and follow the same rules that Texan infantry do. They can also leave the fort at will. The number of detachments a unit can send depends on how many men it still has and which column it is in. Historical Comparison Despite what the "historical" setup suggests, there are many inaccuracies. For example, the garrison in the game has 15 cannons while they had 19 in real life, the Texans also had more rifle ammo than the game suggests, and the Mexicans seem to lack the professionalism they had in real life. There are also fewer defenders in the game than there were in real life. Possible Bugs After a battle is fought and the player starts a new one, there is a chance that the player may find that their units cannot go as far before needing to click again. Opinions Pros Cons